Pernod's US Boss Heads Up The Pacific

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Pernod’s US Boss

HEADS UP THE PACIFIC After four years as President and CEO of Pernod Ricard USA, Bryan Fry has returned home to take on the challenge of driving the strategic direction and distribution for the wine and spirits business in Australia and New Zealand.

A

local boy with a background in agricultural science and viticultural operations, Fry fell into a role managing grower contracts in South Australia for Pernod Ricard Winemakers early on.

His career with Pernod has gone on to span Asia, where he was Vice President of Marketing; Brazil as Chairman and CEO; and more recently the US, which in the last financial year outperformed all of the company’s other markets.

Fry told drinks trade that the result of +4 per cent growth was a culmination of four years hard work to refocus the business on brand building and value generation.

“One of the things we did was break the country down into very small units and then focused on winning each one of those with the 20|drinks trade

right brand at the right time.

“We also made sure that our teams in all of the states were empowered. We always try to make sure that we have a balance between what we call empowered decision-making and then excellence in execution, because you can have a great plan, but if the consumer doesn’t see it, it doesn’t mean anything.”

On the heels of success and a long stint overseas, Fry decided that it was time to take up a new challenge and moved with his wife and children back to Australia to assume the role of Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Pacific.

“To run your home market is a pretty nice honour,” Fry said. “I’m not planning on bringing anything completely new to this market, because

a lot of the backbone of what we were doing in the US is already here, but I think there is an opportunity to change the model, be more disciplined in what we do with our resources in terms of human and financial, and empower the teams to connect with the consumer.

“The businesses in Australia and New Zealand are quite dynamic.

We have a good team and great brands here and I can see that good evolution has happened since I left.”

The region’s performance over the last year was also among areas of the business Fry was pleased to talk about, with the team having delivered on both its budget and growth objectives and key brands continuing to outdo their competitors.

Jacob’s Creek remained Australia’s number one premium wine brand by volume, while premiumisation drove the growth of New Zealand brands Stoneleigh and Brancott. The business also had a good year for Champagne as it hedges into the top category position in Australia with Mumm and Perrier-Jouët.

“We are quite unique in Australia as we are the only real spirit and wine business, and the spirits we have are very strong with Absolut, Jameson, Chivas, the RTDs and Kahlua, which we’re now in the biggest market for,” Fry said.

“2017 will be out fifth or sixth year in partnering with them. It’s an iconic platform in terms of sport for Australia, so we get very good visibility here. It also has strong reach overseas in terms of the core branding,” Fry observed.

Premiumisation will continue to be a focus, supported by new product development with some exciting products to come from within the craft space and a number of cross-category collaborations.

Fry explained, “I think there is a big opportunity to premiumise our wine portfolio, because if you look at the Australian and New Zealand wine drinker, the sub $10 category is pretty flat - most of the action is actually happening at $15 and above.

“With regards to spirits, we’re seeing an increase in connoisseurship in the on-premise, particularly in terms of whisky and gin. A lot more people are experimenting, you just have to look at the amount of offerings and it’s a very good opportunity for us because we have such a large portfolio of spirits.

“The other thing everyone is talking about is craft - is it small, is it artisanal? We have very small brands with lots of history, which could be craft as well. But I think it’s about a mix of local and artisanal, which we want to try and embrace.”

“We can put our product in a lot of places, but the trick is to make sure that when it’s on the shelf or bar it moves. Having a sole focus on distribution can often be a one sided discussion. What we focus on is distribution velocity, because if it’s turning, it’s generating money for our partners and we have a glass in the hand of our consumers.”

“I see a lot of opportunities and there’s a lot more growth that can be taken advantage of in the Australian market.”

Pernod Ricard Pacific has started the new financial year with good momentum according to Fry, who plans on hitting his numbers if not exceeding them by July 1 next year.

Among those already mentioned, key brands for the year ahead will also be Church Road, St Hugo and craft spirits such as Plymouth Gin. So what else can trade expect from the business in the coming months? With his core responsibilities focused on growing distribution in Australia and New Zealand, Fry will be taking an active approach towards relationships with customers to help drive product sales.

“We can put our product in a lot of places, but the trick is to make sure that when it’s on the shelf or bar it moves. Having a sole focus on distribution can often be a one sided discussion. What we focus on is distribution velocity, because if it’s turning, it’s generating money for our partners and we have a glass in the hand of our consumers.”

Activations such as the Australian Open will also be big for the business in 2017. At the time of writing, Pernod had just finished up its seventh year with Melbourne Cup and in 2016, the business extended the agreement with Victoria Racing Club to also include its spirits.

The new Le Petit Rosé from Jacob’s Creek launched back in July and is performing extremely well having fallen into the frosé movement, which is set to be a strong trend this summer. The Double Barrel offering is also continuing to bring in good results.

In New Zealand, Stoneleigh Light is performing well, targeting consumers who seek lower alcohol content. And available in both markets is Jameson Craftmates, which you can read more about on page 46.

“Innovation is essential. The issue retailers often find is that it affects the amount of stock there is to sell. A good supplier will be making sure the portfolio is set up right, but more importantly when they do innovation there should be a support package behind it – tastings, communication, and educating the retailer.”

As for trends Pernod will be following, Fry said, “I think you’ll find that we’ll focus on occasion more and more. Nobody is one type of drinker, everyone has different occasions where they want different drinks. We want to understand how the occasions are changing and how we can meet this with innovation, because we don’t believe that size fits all for consumers.”

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